Designing HIPAA Technical Safeguards

Imagine you are an Information Security consultant for a small doctor’s office consisting of three (3) doctors, two (2) nurses, and one (1) receptionist. The office is physically located among several other professional office spaces. The doctors utilize mobile devices over a wireless network to document patient visits, with the electronic patient records being stored on a server located within the building. Additionally, each doctor’s office has a desktop computer that utilizes a wired network to access the server and electronic patient records. The receptionist station has a desktop computer that is used to schedule appointments, but cannot access patient records. In 1996, Congress enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to help citizens maintain their health insurance coverage and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the American health care system. You have been hired to ensure HIPAA technical safeguards are appropriately designed to preserve the integrity of protected health information maintained in the doctor’s office.